The appearance of Kim Jong-un’s daughter in China ahead of Xi Jinping’s “victory day” parade in Beijing has added to speculation that she is being groomed to become the first female ruler of North Korea.
Photos released by North Korean state media showed Kim Ju-ae, who is believed to be in her early teens, stepping off her father’s heavily armoured train in the Chinese capital, where she was greeted by Chinese officials at the start of her debut on the international stage.
But Ju-ae, whose name and age the regime has never publicly confirmed, is no stranger to the spotlight, having accompanied Kim on numerous official duties around North Korea, including the test launches of ballistic missiles and, more recently, the opening of Wonsan Kalma, a resort on the country’s east coast.
If, as many analysts believe, Ju-ae is her father’s preferred successor, she would become the fourth member of the Kim family to rule North Korea since it was founded by her great-grandfather, Kim Il-sung, in 1948.
First identified by the former NBA star Dennis Rodman – a friend of Kim who claimed to have held his then baby daughter during a visit to Pyongyang in 2013 – Ju-ae has not spoken in public, but has become a near-permanent fixture in her father’s entourage, alongside his influential sister and confidante, Kim Yo-jong.
North Korea’s tightly controlled state media had not carried reports about any of Kim’s children until Ju-ae was first seen accompanying him at the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in 2022. Several months later, Ju-ae attended a parade marking a founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army, and state media began referring to her as Kim’s “respected” daughter.
According to a 2017 report by South Korea’s intelligence service, Kim and his wife, Ri Sol-ju, have three children: a son born in 2010, a daughter born in 2013 who is thought to be Ju-ae and, in 2017, a child whose gender has not been confirmed.
In Beijing, a smiling Ju-ae, dressed in a navy blue suit, was seen standing behind her father as he stepped off their train after an overnight journey from Pyongyang, at the start of their first overseas trip together.
Analysts said her attendance at an event that appeared to confirm the formation of a new, yet vaguely defined, anti-western alliance has added weight to the theory that she is Kim Jong-un’s heir apparent.
“Right now, Ju-ae is the frontrunner as next supreme leader of North Korea,” said Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert at the US-based Stimson Center. “She is getting practical protocol experience which should serve her well as North Korea’s next leader or a core elite.”
“She is getting valuable experience greeting and interacting with foreign leadership and other elites.”
There is no evidence that Kim Jong-un ever accompanied his father, Kim Jong-il, on overseas trips, although the North’s former leader was reportedly reluctant to fly – a phobia his son does not appear to have inherited.
In 2024, South Korea’s intelligence agency said it believed Ju-ae was being prepared to take on the leadership, although how and when that could happen remains unclear. Future leaders, including Kim Jong-un, usually work their way through the regime’s power structure, taking a number of senior posts in preparation for becoming head of state. It is unclear, too, how ruling party and military elites would react to the elevation of a woman to the position of supreme leader.
Despite longstanding struggles with his weight and, in 2014, an apparent attack of gout – Kim, who is thought to be 41 or 42, has been in seemingly good health since speculation swirled over the reason behind his weeks-long absence from public life at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But there is little doubt that Ju-ae’s role has taken on greater significance in recent months, including attending a war anniversary event at the Russian embassy in Pyongyang in May.
“The scope of her public appearances certainly has expanded from military-related sites to political and economic events over the years,” said Rachel Minyoung Lee, a researcher at the Stimson Center.
“If this is part of a succession campaign, this would certainly help with that effort as it would be seen as Kim Ju-ae’s debut on the international stage.”
Reuters contributed reporting
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